The West Sussex-based furniture brand Maker&Son, established in 2018 by Alex Willcock and his son Felix Conran, has been acquired by the investment firm Inc & Co in a multi-million-pound deal.
Operating from their headquarters, design studio, and showroom in Balcombe, the company has extended its reach globally with manufacturing facilities in the UK, Ireland, the US, Australia, Asia, and New Zealand, enabling local production in each market.
The brand, which was recently valued independently at £55 million, employs 150 people. Maker&Son is widely recognised for its viral ‘Sofa Jump’ advertising campaign launched in 2018.
This marketing strategy is vital as the brand does not operate through physical stores, instead opting to connect directly with customers through their ‘mobile’ showroom.
Felix Conran, co-founder of Maker&Son, explains: “Our vision for the business was to put our products and people – both our team and our clients – at the heart of what we do. With this comes a true sense of British heritage and belonging for our teams, and our clients alike.
“The sale will enable us to continue our vision of creating luxury sustainable furniture. We are delighted that Inc &Co have seen the value in what we have achieved to date and are excited to work with them to write the next chapter for Maker&Son.”
The Manchester-based investment group Inc & Co will now take complete ownership of the Maker&Son group, including its international operations. Founded three years ago, the firm recently posted a turnover of £30 million in its second year.
Maker&Son is the latest in a string of acquisitions by the group, which includes luxury leather brand KNOMO London, food and beverage brand Chop’d, and King Street Grooming.
Inc & Co plans to expand Maker&Son by introducing 20 new regional locations for its mobile showroom over the next 18 months.
Jack Mason, CEO of Inc & Co, comments: “Inc & Co pride itself on being known for expediting acquisitions in an extremely diligent and human-centric way. We are excited to be joining Maker&Son on its business journey. It is a distinguished brand, with provenance and vision. The fast and international growth to date has proven the strength of the product and we’re looking to expand on this further.
“Inc & Co, much like Maker&Son, is honed on creating and delivering products and services for the modern, sustainably conscious and digitally aware customer. Maker&Son fits seamlessly into the Inc & Co portfolio of brands and we can’t wait get under the skin of the business.”
